Relevant publications
The following titles are not to be understood as a complete bibliography. Rather, they mark those works that are particularly relevant for practical expert-witness work, its methodological foundation, and the scientific background of the individual fields.
Own published works
Hirthammer, B. J.; Rösing, F. W. Identifikation von Personen auf Bildern. In: Müller, E.; Schlothauer, R.; Knauer, C. (eds.), Münchener Anwaltshandbuch Strafverteidigung. 3rd ed. Munich: C.H. Beck; 2021: 2901–2916.
Methodological overview of forensic image comparison in criminal proceedings.
Rösing, F. W.; Hirthammer, B. J.; Funke, K. Bilder als Beweis: Die morphologische Identifikation im Strafverfahren. Richter ohne Robe. 2013; 25(1): 7–9.
Concise, procedure-oriented presentation of forensic image comparison in judicial practice.
Lächler, S.; Hirthammer, B. J.; Rösing, F. W. Quantifying the Asymmetries of the Human Face. HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology. 2020; 71(2): 91–99.
Contribution on the quantification of facial asymmetries as an individualising context of findings.
Forensic image comparison
Huckenbeck, W.; Gabriel, P. Identifikation lebender Personen auf Bildern. Rechtsmedizin. 2013; 23(2): 127–142. DOI: 10.1007/s00194-012-0867-0.
German-language reference contribution on the identification of living persons from image material.
European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). Best Practice Manual for Facial Image Comparison. 2018.
Practice-relevant frame of reference on procedure, quality assurance, and minimum methodological standards of facial image comparison.
Bacci, N.; Davimes, J. G.; Steyn, M.; Briers, N. Forensic Facial Comparison: Current Status, Limitations, and Future Directions. Biology. 2021; 10(12): 1269. DOI: 10.3390/biology10121269.
Current review article on terminology, limits, image quality, and methodological requirements.
Sexton, L.; Moreton, R.; Noyes, E.; Martinez, S. C.; Laurence, S. The effect of facial ageing on forensic facial image comparison. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 2024.
Particularly relevant for image comparisons across larger intervals of time and for questions of morphological ageing.
Age estimation
Schmeling, A.; Kaatsch, H.-J.; Marré, B.; Reisinger, W.; Riepert, T.; Ritz-Timme, S.; Rösing, F. W.; Rötzscher, K.; Geserick, G. Empfehlungen für die Altersdiagnostik bei Lebenden im Strafverfahren. Rechtsmedizin. 2001; 11: 1–3. DOI: 10.1007/s001940000082.
Foundational German-language recommendation with Rösing as co-author and close relation to the AGFAD systematics.
Schmeling, A.; Grundmann, C.; Fuhrmann, A.; Kaatsch, H.-J.; Knell, B.; Ramsthaler, F.; Reisinger, W.; Riepert, T.; Ritz-Timme, S.; Rösing, F. W.; Rötzscher, K.; Geserick, G. Criteria for age estimation in living individuals. International Journal of Legal Medicine. 2008; 122: 457–460. DOI: 10.1007/s00414-008-0254-2.
Updated AGFAD recommendation for age estimations in living individuals in legally relevant contexts.
Schmeling, A.; Geserick, G.; Reisinger, W.; Olze, A. Age estimation. Forensic Science International. 2007; 165(2–3): 178–181. DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.05.016.
Concise overview of the methodological status of forensic age estimation.
Wittschieber, D.; Hahnemann, M. L.; Mentzel, H. Forensic Diagnostics of the Skeletal Age in the Living – Backgrounds and Methodology. Fortschr Röntgenstr. 2024; 196: 254–261.
Current overview of hand radiography, clavicle CT, and the radiological foundations of skeletal age estimation.
Skeletal identification
Rösing, F. W.; Graw, M.; Marré, B.; Ritz-Timme, S.; Rothschild, M. A.; Rötzscher, K.; Schmeling, A.; Schröder, I.; Geserick, G. Recommendations for the forensic diagnosis of sex and age from skeletons. HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology. 2007; 58(1): 75–89.
Important methodological reference for the forensic diagnosis of sex and age from skeletal material.
Latham, K.; Bartelink, E.; Finnegan, M. (eds.). New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification. Academic Press; 2018.
Collected volume on more recent approaches to forensic skeletal identification and human identification.
Methodological points of reference
The methodological points of reference include above all standards, foundational works, and overview contributions that define the framework for evidential value, feature analysis, image suitability, age estimation, and anthropological comparison findings. They are therefore not merely supplementary literature, but part of the professional foundation of the practical work.
The professional basis includes in particular the AGIB standards, works on the probability statement in the morphological identity opinion, the textbook contribution on image identification in criminal proceedings, and more recent studies on the suitability of measurement images. These texts are especially relevant for practice because they make methodological limits, the wording of the probability statement, and the requirements relating to foundational facts and reasoning particularly clear.
Morphological ageing
Works on diachronic frequencies of facial features, beard morphology, and wrinkle and furrow patterns are particularly relevant where image comparisons have to bridge larger intervals of time.
Asymmetry and individuality
Facial asymmetries, rare combinations of features, and individualising findings can considerably increase the evidential value of a comparison. It is precisely here that the difference becomes apparent between mere recognition and professionally reasoned expert identification. The publications page therefore complements the subject pages not only bibliographically, but also in terms of content: it shows from which methodological and scientific contexts the practical work on this website emerges.